Kenny raced about with fear nagging at him, Kevin and Karen shuffling around in their respective rooms as they gathered the only belongings they had and what they needed to take. He rushed outside of his room, crying out.
"Kevin, Karen, hurry up! Everyone else in the town is already boarding the train! Get the last of what you need and move!"
Kenny stood in the hallway, tapping his foot impatiently. He glanced at Karen once she stood next to him, and nodded his head at Kevin once he emerged from his room. All three raced off side by side, out of the house and down the street to get to another set of train tracks.
Once they made it, all three collectively let out a sigh of relief. Kenny looked about with wide eyes at all the people who were sick of South Park. Kyle and Wendy were at the front, Kyle holding Ike's hand as he and Wendy kept count of how many were joining them. Kenny saw DogPoo, with a stick thrown over his shoulder, a rag tied at the top filled with items that made the stick he was holding sag from the weight.
Clyde had his back pack, half of a donut stuffed into his mouth while his sister clung onto him. Craig was holding Ruby's hand, both of them shouldering bags filled with what they had bought. Red was conversing with Bebe, Red carrying a small suitcase while Bebe held a book bag and had a knapsack on her back. Cartman had an entire suitcase, while Butters had his father's old backpack, his soccer statue in his hand and a knife in his pocket.
Kenny saw Token lugging about a hiking backpack filled with most of his belongings, including his and his parent's money. While Tweek had a small suit case filled with all the money in the cash register from his job, a knapsack filled with food from his job, and a trash bag that contained everything he thought he needed hiked over his shoulder. Nearly everyone else Kenny didn't recognize, and he couldn't spot Jimmy or Timmy in the massive crowd.
Kenny moved forward like a mindless robot, his brother standing in front of him while Karen followed behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at her, smirking at the pride shining in her hazel eyes. He was just about to say something until he heard Kyle.
"Kevin. Kenny. Karen. Glad to see you three joining us at last. We were going to take off without you had there not been so many people. Hop in, we'll get her going shortly. After this, it's no parents, only survival as we try to find new places to claim as our own. Hopefully it won't end up like last time when we took all our parents away. Also, in order to prevent that from happening again, Wendy and I are going to keep control. And we will revert to ruling by fear if anyone, especially Cartman, steps out of line. Got it?"
Kenny and his two siblings nodded at the information that Kyle has given them. Kenny giving Kyle and Wendy a salute.
"Good." Kyle hissed, Wendy grinning at the three of them as she spoke. "Now hop in."
Kenny walked forward to hop in, but stopped in his tracks once he felt hands wrap around his waist and lift him up onto the train. Once he was inside he walked forward and looked back to watch Kevin lift Karen up into the train. Both Kenny and Karen placed down their stuff and raced over to Kevin to help him aboard. Kevin walked around with a steady gaze as he looked for a spot for him, Kenny, and Karen to stay in.
He finally took a seat in a pile hay in the corner of the third train cart. He gestured to Kenny and Karen, the two walking over to him and resting in the hay stack. Glancing at his two siblings, Kevin finally spoke.
"Now, ya'll listen here. Once this whole lil' adventure starts, we oughta stay together, no matter what. We'll stick together like family in this here train, understand?"
"You know, Kev, you sound just like pa." Kenny responded, instantly receiving a harsh glare from his brother. He raised his hands up in mock defeat as he spoke again. "Don't look at me like that, it's true! But, yeah, I understand."
"Sure thing big bro!" Karen exclaimed, reaching over and wrapping her arms around Kevin in a quick hug. Kevin smiled and hugged Karen back before pulling away and nodding his head to show his satisfaction. Kenny and Karen looked at him as he got ready to tell them one more thing.
"Ya'll can run off now, but get back the second you feel this train movin', or you will feel my hand. Now go on, get!"
Kenny leapt up to his feet, his sister following close behind. She grabbed his hand as both ran off, giggling as they began to tell stories to each other in hushed whispers. Kevin watched as they ran off with a small smile. He hoped that they would listen to him, especially on such a trip. Kevin laid back and got lost in his thoughts.
Kenny went back to the entrance with Karen trailing behind him. Both watched as Ruby hopped in first and Craig clambered in next. Craig stood up to his full height and grabbed Ruby's hand before he noticed Kenny and Karen. He released his hold on Ruby's hand so she could talk to Karen, while he walked up to Kenny once Kenny let go of Karen's hand so she could talk to Ruby.
Craig blinked slowly as he gazed down at Kenny with an empty look in his brown eyes. Kenny gazed back up at Craig and crossed his arms as he stood on his toes in attempts to reach Craig's height.
"Hello, string bean."
"Nice to see you too, pipsqueak."
Kenny pouted at Craig from the nickname.
"Y'know, if you're going to call me some sort of nickname that tells everyone I'm short, pipsqueak isn't gonna work."
"Whatever, Kenny. Want to walk around with me and Ruby to find a spot?"
"Sure, Craig."
Eventually, everyone was on the train. Kyle left Ike with Wendy, DogPoo, Tweek, and Stan as he walked around to make sure there were no stragglers. He nodded his head after confirming that everyone was on and went back to the front of the train. Walking inside, he closed the door behind him and walked over to Ike, plopping down next to him and gesturing to Wendy for her to join him.
"Everyone's in. DogPoo, Tweek, Stan, start shoveling that coal. The moment one of you get tired, Ike, Wendy, or I, will take your place."
The three boys nodded as they grabbed the shovels placed near the boiler, and all three began to shovel. Wendy sat down next to Kyle as she spread out a map that she had drawn herself before the two of them. Glancing at the redhead next to her, Wendy pointed at a spot on the map.
"Fifty miles ahead of us and to the right, is a forest. There's a pretty big clearing where trees should be, that could be our first stop for the day. After we rest and sleep, we'll get up and get everyone back on the train and get her running again. If we keep going straight ahead, there will be two separate tracks, one leads to Denver, and the other heads off into wilderness. On the track that leads to the wilderness, there should be a coal mine dug into the side of a mountain that is to the left side of the train. We can go in there to stock up, rest and plan the trip out for a few more days, send some people out to get food, and head off again in a week. Sound good?"
Kyle nodded his head at the sound of Wendy's plan, his brain turning it over and over again in his head. It seemed to work perfectly. Removing his hand from his chin, Kyle spoke.
"Sure does. But we need a backup plan if there's no coal, or bears or mountain lions attack us in wilderness. And if anyone is going to go hunting they need weapons, and someone smart to devise a plan to catch the prey. We want everyone to be safe, especially if that coal mine has been closed off, so we need to provide them with some sort of hard headgear to protect their skulls, and a canary to let them know if there's any dangerous chemicals in there. If that coal mine is closed off, we can collect wood or animal droppings from the forest to fuel Steelheart. Aside from food, we'll have to look for a stream in the forest to get fresh water, and have someone taste it to see if the water is good."
Wendy frowned at Kyle, nodding grimly at his ideas. She gave him a gesture to let him know that it was okay to go on. At that, he continued.
"If there's any possibilities of us getting attack by wild animals, we always need to be near Steelheart to climb in her the second we're threatened. We'll send out anyone who is strong, and anyone who is fast to go with them, so they'll scout out the territory and report back to us if there's any good or bad news. We'll have someone gather firewood, and people who are quick to gather wood and droppings to place near the boiler in the train. For hunting and exploring the coal mine to get resources, we must send off two groups of eight. For the hunting group, there shall be three people who know how to build traps, one person who can devise a quick and accurate plan to catch food, and four people with weapons. For the group that explores the coal mine to get coal, six of them will be strong, one will be fast and scrawny to run to the ones getting the coal and warning them, and one smart person to check the mine for any signs of collapse, bad chemicals, or dangerous creatures."
Wendy clapped her hands at Kyle's quick and smart thinking.
"Great thinking, Kyle! Sounds like a perfect plan B to turn to should my plan fail. And your idea for groups and scouting, I can't believe I hadn't thought of that."
Kyle grinned and spat into his hand, reaching his hand out and looking at Wendy.
"After coming up with a plan, we'll shake on it should both of us agree with whatever ideas we come up with. Deal?"
Wendy grinned back at Kyle and spat in her hand as well. She extended her arm to grab Kyle's hand, the two giving each other a rather strong and firm handshake.
"It's a deal."